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Russia v Egypt (2018 World Cup)
| team1score = 3 | team2 = Egypt | team2association = | team2score = 1 | details = FIFA Report BBC Report | date = 19 June 2018 | stadium = Krestovsky Stadium | city = Saint Petersburg | man_of_the_match1a = Denis Cheryshev (Russia) | referee = Enrique Cáceres (Paraguay) | attendance = 64,468 | weather = 14 °C (58 °F) | previous = | next = }} Russia v Egypt was a match which took place at the Krestovsky Stadium on Tuesday 19 June 2018. It was one of the group stage match in the 2018 FIFA World Cup Preview and teams's preparation Egypt forward Mohamed Salah needed to pass a fitness test to feature against Russia. Liverpool's Salah sat out the 1-0 loss to Uruguay after injuring his shoulder in last month's Champions League final. "He is fit. I hope he will be fit to play. In the previous match we thought he was fit but we have a final fitness test," said Egypt boss Hector Cuper. Russia was without attacking midfielder Alan Dzagoev after he pulled his hamstring in the opening game. Left-back Yuri Zhirkov trained individually on Sunday because of a minor ankle problem. He was passed fit for the match. Egypt right-back Ahmed Fathi, who captained the side in the last game, had shaken off a minor muscle problem. Defensive midfielder Tarek Hamed was substituted during Friday's defeat with a back issue, but the Egyptian FA had confirmed he will be fit to face Russia. Russia scored more goals in the first game of the 2018 World Cup than in the whole of the 2014 tournament in Brazil, where they netted just twice in three group matches. Their performance against Saudi Arabia was so impressive that Russian President Vladimir Putin felt compelled to call head coach Stanislav Cherchesov during his post-match press conference, telling him to pass on his congratulations to the players. It wasn't quite such a good start for Egypt, who were without talisman Mohamed Salah as they fell to a late defeat at the hands of Uruguay. However, the Liverpool star was expected to start this game, despite ongoing speculation about his fitness. At Egypt's recent training camp in Grozny, Salah reportedly required the help of his team-mates to pull on his top. The Pharaohs were still desperately seeking a first World Cup win in what will be their sixth game at the finals. As for Russia, they last progressed to the knockout stage in 1986 under the banner of the Soviet Union, but victory in St. Petersburg would leave them on the brink of a place in the knockout stage. Head to head This was the first meeting between Russia and Egypt. Match Russia moved to the brink of qualifying for the last 16 of the World Cup after the host nation beat Mohamed Salah's Egypt in St Petersburg. Russia, who beat Saudi Arabia 5-0 in their opening game, took the lead thanks to a bizarre 47th-minute own goal from Ahmed Fathi, who diverted Roman Zobnin's shot into his own net. Denis Cheryshev doubled Russia's advantage after he finished from Mario Fernandes' pull-back, before Artem Dzyuba sealed the victory with a fine individual goal. Liverpool forward Salah, playing for the first time since sustaining a shoulder injury in the Champions League final, converted a penalty after he had been fouled - but it was not enough to mount an Egypt fightback. Russia will qualify for the last 16 and Egypt will be eliminated from the competition if Saudi Arabia fail to beat Uruguay in Rostov-on-Don on Wednesday. Russia are the lowest-ranked side in the World Cup at 70th in the rankings, and were not expected to do well in their home tournament, but the nature of their 5-0 victory over Saudi Arabia in their opening match surprised many. That win even earned coach Stanislav Cherchesov a call during his post-match news conference from Vladimir Putin, with the Russian president telling Cherchesov to pass on his congratulations to the players. There may well be another call from the Kremlin after this match as Russia produced a stunning second-half performance to sweep aside Egypt. A lacklustre first half in St Petersburg contained only one shot on target from either side and that came via 38-year-old Russia defender Sergei Ignashevich's weak fifth-minute effort straight at goalkeeper Mohamed El-Shenawy. However, the hosts went ahead after only two minutes of the restart in bizarre fashion as Fathi, battling to get in front of Dzyuba, tried to make a clearance, lost his balance and saw Zobnin's shot bounce off his knee and into the net. Cheryshev scored his third goal of the tournament to become the joint top scorer - with Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo - after fine work from team-mate Fernandes. Dzyuba, who also netted in the win over Saudi Arabia, made it 3-0 as he showed a nice piece of skill to take a lofted ball into the box down on his chest, take a touch to get past Ali Gabr and finish past El-Shenawy. Of the 21 nations to previously host a World Cup, only South Africa in 2010 have failed to make it out of the opening phase and only a freak set of results can deny Russia a deserved place in the last 16. Egypt's hopes of qualifying now seem hugely unrealistic as they need to get a big win over Saudi Arabia and also hope Uruguay lose to both Saudi Arabia and Russia to stay in the competition. The ongoing fitness concerns about Salah have dominated their tournament - he needed surgery on a shoulder injury after getting injured during Liverpool's Champions League final loss to Real Madrid on 26 May. He missed Egypt's last-minute, 1-0 defeat by Uruguay in their opening match and played the full 90 minutes in St Petersburg despite being well short of fitness. Salah, who scored 44 goals for Liverpool during the 2017-18 season, still had the best chances for his side and his shot on the turn from 18 yards narrowly went wide when the game was goalless. With Egypt trailing 3-0, he did win a penalty after he was fouled by Zobnin - although it was only given after a consultation with the video assistant referee as referee Enrique Caceres had initially wrongly said the offence took place outside the area. Nevertheless, Salah stepped up to become only the third Egyptian player to score at a World Cup, though their wait for a first victory goes on. Details |score = 3–1 |report = FIFA Report BBC Report |team2 = |goals1 = Fathy Cheryshev Dzyuba |goals2 = Salah |stadium = Krestovsky Stadium, Saint Petersburg |attendance = 64,468 |referee = Enrique Cáceres (Paraguay) }} |valign="top"| |valign="top" width="50%"| |} Group A Table |w=2 |d=0 |l=0 |gf=8 |ga=1 |bc=lightgreen}} |w=1 |d=0 |l=0 |gf=1 |ga=0|bc=lightgreen}} |w=0 |d=0 |l=2 |gf=1 |ga=4}} |w=0 |d=0 |l=1 |gf=0 |ga=5}} |} Match Stats= {| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" |- !width=130|Overall !width=70|Russia !width=70|Egypt |- !scope=row|Goals scored |3||1 |- !scope=row|Total shots |11||13 |- !scope=row|Shots on target |3||1 |- !scope=row|Ball possession |47%||53% |- !scope=row|Corner kicks |7||4 |- !scope=row|Fouls committed |11||10 |-| Images= Russia v Egypt (2018 World Cup).1.jpg Russia v Egypt (2018 World Cup).2.jpg Russia v Egypt (2018 World Cup).3.jpg Russia v Egypt (2018 World Cup).4.jpg Russia v Egypt (2018 World Cup).5.jpg Russia v Egypt (2018 World Cup).6.jpg Russia v Egypt (2018 World Cup).7.jpg Russia v Egypt (2018 World Cup).8.jpg Russia v Egypt (2018 World Cup).9.jpg Russia v Egypt (2018 World Cup).10.jpg Russia v Egypt (2018 World Cup).11.jpg Russia v Egypt (2018 World Cup).12.jpg Russia v Egypt (2018 World Cup).13.jpg Russia v Egypt (2018 World Cup).14.jpg Russia v Egypt (2018 World Cup).15.jpg See also *2018 FIFA World Cup :*2018 FIFA World Cup Group A External links *Match report at BBC.co.uk Category:2018 FIFA World Cup Matches